TSA confiscated 1,813 guns in 2013

Does anybody really say, “I’ve got to remember to pack my handgun and a couple of stout knives” before boarding a flight?

You might think so from the number of guns and knives that people try to carry onto airplanes each year. That number would be 1,813 guns that were snared by Transportation Security Administration at airport checkpoints last year. Only 1,477 of them were loaded.

That’s a jump from 2012, when 1,556 guns were confiscated.

The parts of the country where toting a sidearm is more common were where a lot of the guns turned up. The airports in Atlanta (111 guns), Dallas (96), Houston (68), Phoenix (66) and Denver (51) lead the list.

Other parts of the country still turned up a number of guns last year. TSA said 13 were confiscated at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport, eight were found at Dulles International and six were taken from passengers at National Airport.

People tend to say “Oops, I forgot I had my weapon with me,” when they get caught. After the TSA takes note and confiscates the gun or knife, it’s up to local authorities to decide where prosecution is in order. In most cases, the passenger is allowed to board the flight.